Ankle brace



Jan. 17, 1967 H. E. LEWIS 3,298,365

ANKLE BRACE Filed Dec. 23, 1963 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Office 3,298,365 Patented Jan. 17, 1967 3,298,365ANKLE BRACE Hector E. Lewis, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to SurgicalAppliance Industries, Inc, Oincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio FiledDec. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 332,476 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-80) The presentinvention relates to ankle braces or supports and is particularlydirected to an ankle brace of the type adapted to hold the wearers footin a substantially horizontal position.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an anklesupport effective to hold a wearers foot in a horizontal attitude sothat a wearer suffering drop foot, or the like, is able to walk in arelatively normal manner. As is well known by those in the orthopedicappliance field, various diseases such as poliomyelitis and certaintypes of injuries can result in a persons being unable to raise theforward part of his foot. This dropping tendency of the toes is called adrop foot condition. Persons suffering from this condition are unable towalk normally.

In the past, various types of orthopedic appliances have been devised toaid persons with a drop foot condition to walk. These devices havegenerally involved the provision of a rigid clamp which engages thewearers calf or upper ankle and extends down the rim of the ankle andengages the wearers shoe or the bottom of his foot. These drop footbraces, while providing some help, are not completely satisfactory sincein many instances they cannot be used except when the wearer is wearingspecially constructed shoes. Moreover, the braces are uncomfortable andare exposed to view so that they present an unsightly appearance.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide abrace which is effective to elevate a persons toes so that he can walknormally; and which eliminates the need of any other special wearingapparel, such as shoes. Thus, the present brace can be used when awearer is wearing his regular street shoes, athletic shoes, slippers oris even barefoot. Moreover, the present brace can be worn under socksand conventional shoes so that the brace is hidden from view.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bracewhich is effective to immobilize the wearers foot not only in a verticaldirection, but also in a horizontal direction. Thus, the brace may beworn by athletes requiring a substantial amount of immobility at theankle while at the same time requiring a high degree of freedom of otherbody movements.

Specifically, the present invention is predicated upon the concept ofproviding an ankle brace comprising a sleeve effective to surround awearers ankle and including a band positioned to pass under the wearersinstep. The sleeve carries at its upper or front portion at least onerigid stay having a contour corresponding to that of the wearers upperankle and foot when the foot is extended horizontally. The sleeve iseffective to pull the wearers foot up against this rigid stay memberwhich thus con trols the angulation of the wearers foot.

In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve is slit up the front and the rigidcurved stay is carried in a tongue member disposed beneath the opposingedges of a slit. The tongue is held in position by laces which also areeffective to draw the sleeve together tightly around the wearers ankle.This preferred embodiment also includes rigid stays on opposite sides ofthe wearers foot for holding his foot immobile against sideways bending.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will bemore readily apparent from the following detailed description of thedrawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of an ankle brace of the present inventionshowing the manner in which the brace is worn.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the brace shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the tongue of the present brace,the tongue being partially broken away to show details of construction.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3.

One preferred form of brace 1t constructed in accordance with theprinciples of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 1. As thereshown, the brace comprises a sleeve 11 formed of a woven, substantiallynonstretchable fabric, or a material having a very limited degree ofstretchability. The sleeve member 11 is vertically slit along the frontthereof as indicated at 12 in FIGURE 2. The sleeve is dimensioned sothat it fits around the wearers ankle and extends upwardly anappreciable distance above his ankle bone. The sleeve further includes acutout portion 13 at the rearward lower end thereof for receiving thewearers heel. An instep engaging band portion 14 is formed forwardly ofthe heel cutout 13. This instep engaging portion 14 passes under thewearers foot and terminates at its forward end at approximately the ballof the wearers foot.

It is to be understood that the brace is symmetrical about a verticalplane passing rearwardly through the slit 12. Vertical pockets 15 and 16are disposed on each side of the slit 12. Each pocket is formed from astrip of fabric stitched about its periphery to the underlying sleevemember 11. The pockets 15 and 16 are left open at their upper edges 17,however, in order to permit the insertion and removal of rigid metalstays.

The brace also includes a second pair of vertical pockets 2020 disposedon opposite sides of the brace rearwardly of the forward pockets 15, 16.One of these pockets 20 is shown in FIGURE 1 and it is to be understoodthat the pocket 20 on the opposite side is similarly positioned relativeto forward pocket 16. Each of the pockets 20 is formed of a flexiblefabric and is stitched about its periphery to sleeve 11. The pockets 20are also left with an open slit at the upper edge to receive rigid metalstay members.

As is best shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, body member 11 further includes acloth binding 21 which extends completely about the periphery of thesleeve and about the periphery of heel opening 13. A plurality ofeyelets 22 are disposed in conventional fashion adjacent to the edges offront slit 12. These eyelets are adapted to receive a lacing 23.

In addition to these elements, the present ankle brace comprises atongue member 24. The tongue member is preferably formed of a wovenfabric similar to that used in sleeve 11. The undersurface, or innersurface, of the tongue is preferably padded or provided with a brushedflannel lining 25 to increase the wearers comfort. The tongue member 24is provided with a binding 26 and two spaced eyelets 2727 are formed inthe center portion of the tongue adjacent to the lower edge thereof. Alace receiving loop 28 is stitched to the forward face of the tongue atapproximately the center thereof.

Tongue member 24 is provided with two vertical pockets 30 and 31 formedadjacent to each elongated edge of the tongue. These pockets extend thefull length of the tongue and are formed by stitching outer cloth stripsto the main tongue strap along vertical lines 32 and 33 as well as alongthe bottom and outer edges of the pockets. The upper edges of thepockets are left open to receive elongated rigid shaped metal stays34-34. These metal stays are preferably formed from steel of the orderof of an inch wide and & of an inch thick. The stays are ent, as isshown in FIGURE 4, to a shape corresponding to the upper contour of thewearers ankle and foot when the foot is in its normal horizontalposition, i.e., its position when the wearer is standing.

The tongue is held in place by threading the lowermost run of lace 23through eyelets 27-27 at the bottom portion of the tongue. The lace isthen crisscrossed through the eyelets 22 formed on opposite edges of theslit 12. Two portions of the lace cross one another beneath retainingloop 28 to hold the upper portion of the tongue in place.

In use, the wearer may, before putting on the brace, remove one of thetwo tongue stays 34 to increase the comfort of the brace. The stay soremoved is generally the interior stay when the brace is worn. Thus,when the brace is to be worn on the right leg the left stay isfrequently removed, and when the brace is to be worn on the left leg theright stay is frequently removed. The provision of the slot at the topof the tongue pockets and the loose connection of the tongue and sleeve11 facilitate the removal and insertion of these tongue stays.

After removing the stays the wearer loosens the lacing and inserts hisfoot in the sleeve 11 in the manner shown in FIGURE 1. The lacing isthen pulled up tight to force the instep band portion 14 against thebottom of the wearers foot. This in essence lifts or holds the wearersfoot against tongue stay 30 or 31. The rigid contour of the stay is thuseffective to constrain the wearers foot in a normal horizontal position.Thus, the present brace provides an effective appliance for people withdrop foot, allowing them to walk in a manner approaching normal.

It will be appreciated that a wearer can place a sock over the presentbrace and can wear almost any type of shoe over the sock so that theankle brace is completely hidden. The brace provides a high degree ofimmobilization of the wearers foot, not only in the vertical directionbut also in the sideways direction. Immobilization against sidewaysbending is provided by the rigid side stays in pockets 15, 16 and 20.Thus, the brace can be worn to great advantage by athletes havingrelatively serious ankle injuries requiring substantial immobilization.While the present brace provides the requisite support, it does nototherwise impede the players activity. For example, a player can wearthe present brace beneath basketball shoes and play basketball.

From the foregoing disclosure of the general principles of the presentinvention and the above detailed description of a preferred embodiment,those skilled in the art will readily comprehend various modificationsto which the invention is susceptible. Therefore, I desire to be limitedonly by the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An ankle brace comprising a sleeve member for surrounding a wearersankle, said sleeve having a vertical slit formed in the front portionthereof, said sleeve fur ther including an instep engaging band disposedfor engagernent with the bottom of the wearers foot, said sleeve havinga plurality of spaced eyelets formed on opposite sides of said slit, alacing in engagement with said eyelets for drawing said sleeve portionstogether, a tongue member disposed beneath said lacing, a pocket formedin said tongue member, a rigid stay disposed in said pocket, said stayhaving an arcuate configuration corresponding to the contour of thewearers ankle and upper foot when the foot is disposed in a horizontalplane, said tongue having two vertically spaced lacing receivingelements, whereby said lacing is effective to hold said tongue inposition.

2. An ankle brace comprising a sleeve member for surrounding a wearersankle, said sleeve having a vertical slit formed in the front portionthereof, said sleeve further including an instep engaging band disposedfor engagement with the bottom of the wearers foot, said sleeve having aplurality of spaced eyelets formed on opposite sides of said slit, alacing in engagement with said eyelets for drawing said sleeve portionstogether, a tongue member disposed beneath said lacing, two pocketsformed on opposite edges of said tongue member, .a rigid stay disposedin at least one of said pockets, said stay having an arcuateconfiguration corresponding to the contour of the wearers ankle andupper foot when the foot is disposed in a horizontal plane, said tonguehaving two vertically spaced lacing receiving elements, whereby saidlacing is effective to hold said tongue in position.

3, An ankle brace comprising a sleeve member for surrounding a wearersankle, said sleeve having a vertical slit formed in the front portionthereof, said sleeve further including an instep engaging band disposedfor engagement with the bottom of the wearers foot, said sleeve having aplurality of spaced eyelets formed on opposite sides of said slit, alacing in engagement with said eyelets for drawing said sleeve portionstogether, a tongue member disposed beneath said lacing, a pocket formedin said tongue member, a rigid stay disposed in said pocket, said stayhaving an arcuate configuration corresponding to the contour of thewearers ankle and upper foot when the foot is disposed in a horizontalplane, said tongue having two, vertically spaced lacing receivingelements, whereby said lacing is effective to hold said tongue inposition, and a plurality of spaced rigid side stays extendingvertically on opposite sides of said slit.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,081,366 12/1913Collis 128-166 1,253,777 1/1918 Bromlsy 3654 1,692,896 11/1928 Hilgert362.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,148,641 12/1957 France.

856,728 11/ 1952 Germany.

23,547 1889 Great Britain. 739,111 10/1955 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. J. W. HINEY, ]R., AssistantExaminer,

1. AN ANKLE BRACE COMPRISING A SLEEVE MEMBER FOR SURROUNDING A WEARER''SANKLE, SAID SLEEVE HAVING A VERTICAL SLIT FORMED IN THE FRONT PORTIONTHEREOF, SAID SLEEVE FURTHER INCLUDING AN INSTEP ENGAGING BAND DISPOSEDFOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE WEARER''S FOOT, SAID SLEEVE HAVINGA PLURALITY OF SPACED EYELETS FORMED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID SLIT, ALACING IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID EYELETS FOR DRAWING SAID SLEEVE PORTIONSTOGETHER, A TONGUE MEMBER DISPOSED BENEATH SAID LACING, A POCKET FORMEDIN SAID TONGUE MEMBER, A RIGID STAY DISPOSED IN SAID POCKET, SAID STAYHAVING AN ARCUATE CONFIGURATION CORRESPONDING TO THE CONTOUR OF THEWEARER''S ANKLE AND UPPER FOOT WHEN THE FOOT IS DISPOSED IN A HORIZONTALPLANE, SAID TONGUE HAVING TWO VERTICALLY SPACED LACING RECEIVINGELEMENTS, WHEREBY SAID LACING IS EFFECTIVE TO HOLD SAID TONGUE INPOSITION.